If you had asked me, even a few months ago, how I felt about the state of my photography career, I would’ve given you the same answer I’d been using for years: “I’m still in my start-up phase.”

I like to think of myself as a newbie in photography. And, taking a long view, I suppose that’s still true. I expect to be shooting for at least another 30 years (hopefully much more), and the paltry amount of time I have under my belt right now will ultimately represent a small percentage of what I hope will be the total. The depth of my photographic ignorance is profound, and I will never have enough time on this earth to learn what I want, and need, to know about making photographs.

But lately, I’ve settled into an uneasy acceptance that in fact, I’ve “made it”, at least in financial terms. For the past several years, I’ve had enough money to do pretty much what I want; and my business grows year over year in pleasing amounts. It’s been a long time since I worried about having enough money next week (as I once did), or next month, or even next year. Better still, I’m getting the kind of work I really want to get; I find most of my shoots to be very fulfilling. I’m doing fine; I’ve “made it” as a photographer. Things could certainly go awry, and there is plenty of uncharted territory ahead; but I can no longer pretend that I’m a start-up.

So, yay! for me…but that’s caused me to think a lot about how exactly this has happened. How did I come to this place, where no rational person would have predicted I’d be? I occasionally get asked to speak on this topic, and I’ve always struggled to identify the characteristics and habits etc. that I felt were important…..other than to say that luck had absolutely NOTHING to do with it (on that score I’m quite sure).

I was frankly lucky to have gotten out of high school, though, and I literally flunked out of college (cumulative GPA: 1.8). When I “became” a photographer, I did not have the first clue about what I was getting into. I took no photography classes, read precious few books, did zero assisting. I had never actually met a professional photographer. The odds were so high against me that if I’d had any inkling of what my prospects were, I’d have been too scared to try. But, I didn’t know any better.

If you work with me on location, there’s pretty much a constant refrain of me shouting, “Alan!”

“Alan, can I get my 1.4x extender?” “Alan, I need the power cable for the laptop.” “Alan, can we get a head with an umbrella out that window, and then flag it so the reflection doesn’t show in the glass tile behind the stove?”

A good Photo Assistant (“PA”) can absolutely make or break a shoot, so today we’re going to hear from mine: Alan Vance. I get emails every week from people offering to assist me for free, but they don’t always realize just what a skilled position they’re asking for. Carrying gear around is only a tiny, tiny piece of the puzzle. A good PA can work very closely with the photographer, and handle complex technical tasks with a huge variety of equipment.

You wanna be a photo assistant? You’d better be intimately familiar with equipment from Broncolor, Elinchrom, ProPhoto, Dynalite, Arri, Lowell, Photek, Matthews, Manfrotto, Arca, Westcott, Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad, Phase One, Lee, and more. You’d better be able to troubleshoot Capture One, Lightroom, or Canon Digital Photo Pro. You’d better be able to use a light meter – preferably your own. You’d better know how to assemble any model of softbox, and in a hurry. You’d better know what I mean when I say, “Get two Inkies with baby plates and light this to f/13, and gel them with a half cut of minus green. Then get a head with a shoot-through and put it down at the end of that hallway. Have some CTO ready for that one. Might have to flag it off the ceiling. And we’re going to put some SB-80s over the valence, there. See that little shadow? I want you to kill it.” And then make it all happen. Yeah, it’s a big job, and not just anyone can do it.

I’m getting organized….and making Facebook my “ground zero” for workshop information. Updates on current and future workshops will appear on this new page, so “Like” it and stay up-to-date with what’s happening! Click the image above, and you’ll be there!

I get asked to review a lot of photographers’ portfolios. Usually they’re asking me for advice on lighting, but I find that I usually have more to say about the compositions than anything else. And generally, it’s the composition of the photo that drives the other factors, especially the lighting.

With that in mind, I asked videographer (and photographer) Malia Campbell to help me record a quick video outlining some of my thoughts on composing for residential interiors. Malia takes you right inside my camera, so you can see exactly what I’m seeing as I compose shots!

Malia did a fantastic job on this – so be sure to click the HD button and see it large. We shot this in one long day, at a house in Oakland California. It’s my first attempt at a true instructional video, let me know what you think!

I average about an email a day asking me for advice, coaching, or inquiring about a book, DVD, pamphlet, or other resource on lighting interiors. This book is the answer to all that. I didn’t hold back – this is the technique I employ every day on shoots. I tried to lay out as clearly as possible the theory and practical solutions that go into my photos. We’ll go into big, spacious living rooms, small bathrooms, and even into a pitch-dark, cramped little attic together, figuring out how to light them all from start to finish.

Sample page from Lighting Interiors – Click it to see it full-size.

If you shoot real estate — this is your book. It’s written with small flash (and the need to move quickly) in mind. Photographers who shoot interiors for other types of clients will find that the techniques described “scale up” perfectly well – I spent today shooting with a combination of speedlights and a more powerful pack-and-head system for a kitchen remodeling company, and the fundamentals I was relying on are the ones I put in the book.

Let me know what you think! Since it’s an “eBook”, there will be updates periodically, and you’ll get every one of them for free, automatically. Hit THIS LINK to get to the ‘order page’ — you’ll be able to download the PDF immediately.

Many thanks to the list of people who supported this project. I’ve listed many of them in the introduction, but I have to mention Larry Lohrman and Malia Campbell here. Larry for publishing, editing, and being incredibly patient with me as I tried to write while juggling a crazy travel and shoot schedule (and never complaining even when I made nit-pick after nit-pick over the many drafts we went through). And Mia for being endlessly forgiving while I slowly went crazy on this project. It kind of took over my life during the past two months especially.

Like this:

Interiors Photographer Scott Hargis

Scott Hargis is a widely recognized interiors and architectural photographer based in the San Francisco Bay area.

He creates artistic photographs that communicate more than just basic information about a room or structure. His compositions reveal the intent of the designer, interpreting their work into a two-dimensional image that accurately conveys the feeling of being in the space itself.

Scott relies on traditional field techniques and attention to detail to create images that feel alive and authentic without excessive digital manipulation.